When applying for Social Security’s Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB), or for Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you can submit the application yourself on Social Security’s Home Page at http://www.ssa.gov/, or you can hire an attorney to assist you in submitting the application(s). If submitting the application(s) yourself, be sure to list all of the doctors, clinics or hospitals that have cared for you in the past year — two years if you have a psychiatric disability. Also, be sure to list all of the medications, both prescribed and over-the-counter, and all of the diagnostic tests that have been performed during that one- or two-year time period.
Upon receiving your application(s), Social Security sends the information that you have furnished in your application to its Disability Determination Division, where they obtain a copy of the records of those physicians, clinics and hospitals that you have listed in your application(s). However, they rarely ask for anything more than a copy of the records. Based upon the records that they receive, they make a determination as to whether or not you are entitled to disability benefits. To be found disabled, you must not be working (except under special circumstances); you must have a serious impairment or impairments; and your impairment(s) must be sufficiently severe to keep you from gaining any kind of gainful employment.
If your application(s) are denied, you then have 60 days from the date on the letter of denial to request that your claim be reconsidered. The Request for Reconsideration asks why you disagree and requires that you complete a Disability Report.
If your Request for Reconsideration is denied, you then have 60 days from the date of that letter to make a Request for Hearing. Hearings are held before an Administrative Law Judge, and you are given an opportunity to tell why you feel that you are unable to obtain any kind of gainful employment. Many times, the Administrative Law Judge will have a vocational expert or a medical advisor present at your hearing to assist him in determining your ability to work, and whether your impairments either meet or are equal to what Social Security has listed as meeting Social Security’s requirements for benefits. The listings can be found at http://www.ssa.gov/ by searching for Listings of Impairment.
There is little that an attorney can do for you in making the application(s). However, I will consider assisting you in making applications if I feel that you are not capable. Many attorneys will not render assistance during the initial stage of submitting application(s). After the initial denial of your claim(s), you should consider employing an attorney to obtain information from your doctors that Social Security has not obtained — and information that Social Security rarely obtains.
Never go to a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge without having an attorney there to represent you. Little to nothing is going to be done in furtherance of your claim. Therefore, the latest time to employ an attorney is when receiving a denial upon reconsideration. Social Security most likely will not schedule a hearing on your request for at least a year after the request is made. Sometimes the attorney can obtain and present evidence to obtain a favorable decision on your claim without you having to wait for a hearing date.
Jim Grennan, Attorney At Law
P.O. Box 60871 · Oklahoma City, OK 73146-0871
(405) 642-5737 · Fax: 1-866-760-8061
jgrennan@swbell.net
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